Clients - Case studies

Top Team Development

Background

A major multinational decided to restructure its IT function into a shared services operation. The Top Team of the new shared services function were set challenging financial targets to meet if they were to see off the threat of outsourcing. For most of the Top Team, this was their first experience of creating and running an operation of this type.

Our Approach

Human Qualities started working with the Top Team in 2004. We facilitated a 3-day workshop where they created their “Strategic Leadership Agenda. This included a shared vision, cultural blueprint and personal leadership commitments. As part of the process the Top Team also gave each other peer feedback, which helped them to start communicating more openly with each other, and raised their awareness of their impact on each other.

A follow-up workshop several months later enabled them to maintain the momentum and review their progress. At this workshop, they identified a need to increase trust and openness in the Top Team, as well as a need to find ways to involve and engage the rest of the management population in the vision and cultural change.

To assist the Top Team in changing the way they communicate with each other, we trained them in the process of peer coaching circles. These provide an opportunity for members of the Top Team to share real issues and challenges facing them and to receive open, non-directive coaching from each other on these.

Impact

To date, Human Qualities has facilitated two peer coaching days with the Top Team. These have seen major breakthroughs in the levels of trust and openness, as individuals start to share issues of real personal significance with each other, and gain support from their peers in doing so. The questioning, listening and coaching skills of the Top Team have also developed through this process.

We are also working with the rest of the management population. To date we have run workshops for all managers globally to help them engage in and take responsibility for managing change. We are now in the process of rolling out a related programme for non-managers and in creating and facilitating a range of team-building events for leadership and project teams.